This paper describes an extensive online project, Writingmatrix [http://writingmatrix.wikispaces.com], involving several key elements essential to collaboration in Web 2.0, such as aggregation, tagging, and social networking. Participant teachers in several different countries--Argentina, Venezuela, and Slovenia--had their adult students at…

This paper examines the origin and implications of adult learners' emotions in the context of an online distance learning programme at the Open University of Cyprus. Various methods for gathering data about learners' emotions related to online learning are used, such as emotion diaries, semi-structured interviews, and email messages. The paper…

The possibility of online student collaboration over cyberspace for two groups of students in Australia and Singapore was conceived by JaneMaree Maher at Monash University in Australia in 2005 after hearing a paper given by a colleague that detailed the experience of a three-way cross-country dialogue using flexible learning technologies. A recent…

The use and effects of a CSCL-tool are not always predictable from the properties of the tool alone, but depend on how that tool is appropriated. This paper presents the findings from a case study about the appropriation of a graphical shared workspace. When students are presented with a new tool they may encounter competing constraints and…

This article showcases August's School Web Site of the Month, http://magnoliaisdcommunities.org/communities/bschuster, which was produced by Bradley H. Schuster (bschuster@magnoliaisd.org) and his students at Magnolia High School, Magnolia, Texas. Schuster teaches architectural drafting and building trades classes at both Magnolia High School and…

Rayenne Dekhinet, Keith Topping, David Duran, and Silvia Blanch describe a pilot project on the use of Internet-assisted reciprocal peer tutoring in foreign-language learning. The eight-week project connected Spanish-speaking English-language learners at a primary school in Catalonia with English-speaking Spanish-language learners at a Scottish…

In this action-research study, a third-grade teacher explores the impact of student blogs on the quality of their mathematical discussions. The teacher introduced math blogs to facilitate a productive online discussion focused on multistep story problems. (Contains 2 figures.)

The use of Student Information Systems (SIS) to enhance school administration and manage student performance in K-12 education has received increased attention in recent years. As SIS become more integrated operational tools in schools, many school districts have to make decisions about the extent to which SIS affects student achievement and about…

Today's technology-enhanced learning practices cater to students and teachers who use many different learning tools and environments and are used to a paradigm of interaction derived from open, ubiquitous, and socially oriented services. In this context, a crucial issue for education systems in general, and for Intelligent Learning Environments…

This paper uses Conversation Analysis to investigate the ways in which participants in an online asynchronous postgraduate reading group managed and negotiated their contributions within the discussion. Using the conversation analytic concerns with sequential organisation, adjacency pairs and topicality, this article shows the analytic insights…

English education has entered a new era. Bonk (2008) boldly proclaims that "the World is Open" for learning. It is somewhat obvious that opportunities for learning have expanded with the emergence of Web 2.0 technologies. Now we can interact, participate, and collaborate on the Web in "a planetary community" attached to a…

As online research has become an increasingly standard activity for middle school and high school students, Wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.org) has simultaneously emerged as the bane of many teachers who include research-focused assignments in their courses. An online encyclopedia that allows anyone to edit its entries, Wikipedia has educators…

The field of research on computer-mediated communication (CMC) in education is a relatively new research area. A summary of the latest research is useful to show what methodologies and research topics have been emphasized in order to be better prepared for the future by uncovering areas where there is a lack of research. The study examines…

PowerPoint, the widely-used slide-show software package, is finding increasing currency in lecture halls and classrooms as the preferred method of communicating and presenting information. But, as Adams [Adams, C. (2006) "PowerPoint, habits of mind, and classroom culture." "Journal of Curriculum Studies," 38(4), 389-411] attempts to show, users…

A discussion about how instructors can host a hospitable online learning environment can address one of the fundamental philosophical and theological concerns frequently expressed about online learning--the loss of face-to-face interaction and, with it, the loss of community building (cf. Delamarter 2005, 138). This perceived link between physical…